Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Pig and Pepper scene (The Royal Ballet)

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In this spooky scene, Alice encounters a Duchess in a cottage tending a baby while a Cook makes pigs into sausages while a pair of fish- and frog-footmen look on. Enjoy this video? Subscribe to our channel to receive notifications about new ballet and opera clips.
Follow Kristen McNally (The Cook), Gary Avis (The Duchess), Lauren Cuthebertson (Alice), Tristan Dyer (Fish) and David Yudes (Frog) down the rabbit hole in Christopher Wheeldon’s exuberant ballet, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s much-loved book.
Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland burst onto the stage in 2011 in an explosion of colour, stage magic and inventive, sophisticated choreography. Joby Talbot’s score combines contemporary soundworlds with sweeping melodies that gesture to ballet scores of the 19th century. Bob Crowley’s wildly imaginative, eye-popping designs draw on everything from puppetry to projections to make Wonderland wonderfully real.
Alice encounters a cast of extraordinary and instantly recognizable characters, from the highly strung Queen of Hearts - who performs a hilarious send-up of The Sleeping Beauty’s famous Rose Adage - to a playing card corps de ballet, a sinuous caterpillar and a tap-dancing Mad Hatter. But the ballet does not avoid the darker undercurrents of Lewis Carroll’s story: a nightmarish kitchen, an eerily disembodied Cheshire Cat and the unhinged tea party are all here in vivid detail. The delicious result shows The Royal Ballet at its best, bringing together world-class dance with enchanting family entertainment.
To book tickets or find out more about the Royal Opera House, head to www.roh.org.uk/

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[@mjwemdee]

Yes, there's definitely something Mrs Lovett about the Cook character. I loved how in the finale of the Ballet, she appears to be attracted to the Queen of Heart's Executioner, with his axe.

[@greenivy713]

I found it somewhat cute when I noticed that :'D what an oddly fitting couple

[@gifttohumanity6641]

The more scenes I watch the more I wanna see the real ballet in person

[@pinellafranich6007]

True.unfortunately the very best dancers such as Underwood Polunin and MC Rae left the RHO

[@kirklurkpu4470]

Pinella Franich Where is McRae now? Also I wish good luck for his family during this time.

[@yealim99]

00:14 Alice shaking her legs in fear is sooo cute

[@linadewood]

Lmao yes I noticed it is 😂❤

[@dwija1325]

Pleaseee upload more of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, please please please..

[@quentinbarrentine5114]

*my own interpretation* The Duchess is suffering severe post-partum depression to the point she's gone giddy in madness and cares nothing to the extreme (depending on her erratic mood) for her baby. The Cook has been worked to exhaustion due to the Duchess' demands and had gone mad from being overworked.

[@Rainbow_Pirate]

I feel like in this ballet, these two characters are more about 'living inappropriately' than about their original theme. As Alice is supposed to be 13/14 in this ballet and slowly getting interested in the adult world, the other characters provide her with possible role models of what adulthood might look like (or what she imagines it to be like) - the Mad Hatter and March Hare are care-free and artsy (and also very obviously a gay couple), the Queen is a frustrated tyrant who needs constant approval to make up for the fact that she is untalented at pretty much everything, the King is a depressed husband who has given up on everything, the Caterpillar is a swinging drug consumer and so on. The Duchess seems to have no husband but a baby, she dresses extravagantly but her household is a mess and during the court scene, the other characters flinch away from her like she smells extremely bad. It's like she is a literal interpretation of someone 'living like a pig' - society probably looks down on her for having a child out of wedlock, she is extremely messy but trying hard to fit into higher society. Her cook is scruffy as well, but also with a love for violence, like someone who grew up under poor and harsh circumstances might grow up to be, emphasizing the 'misfit' theme for the Duchess' household.

[@guacguac3000]

So I watched the whole ballet and read the synopsis and basically, that ain't her baby ig. It's a Piglet

[@dandelion2942]

@@guacguac3000 wait but doesn't she eat the pigs?? Eww what if she's raising them like babies just to turn them into sausages

[@guacguac3000]

@@dandelion2942 yeah that's the point I guess? She raises pigs to make sausages out of them.

[@alexarose9698]

@@Rainbow_Pirate A very deep perspective, which makes me feel quite sad for the characters despite the horrific scene we see!

[@Thimble-berry]

Wow, this is far scarier than Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs ever was. On the scale of pig slaughter related horror (which I'm now realizing is a thing) this is at least a 7. Excellent work! I appreciate they went so hard with the tone of this scene.

[@rikkus]

Lauren is just perfect as Alice.

[@HoneycombTheywontletmeputjusto]

Oh my goodness, the Dies Irae tune and variations on it playing in the background of this whole scene. Scary!

[@aquashark586]

I’m glad someone else noticed this!

[@yellowangel6610]

Horrific scene indeed! Some people will become vegetarians after seeing that.😅

[@vicentehizon6202]

In the book, she was just making an overly peppered soup, not making pork chop out of the baby.

[@mslightbulb]

And then the baby turned into a pig. For reasons.

[@vicentehizon6202]

@@mslightbulb apparently, Lewis Carroll said in his journal “I love all kids (except boys).” Weird, but that explains it.

[@nagisaveraz732]

⁠@@vicentehizon6202Wasn’t Lewis a pedophile?

[@TwiggehLeaf]

I wish this piece was in the soundtrack!! I really enjoy it, very bombastic

[@ryanshannon6527]

Saw the performance in Toronto. They went hard in this scene to the point that this video is actually toned down and looks tame. They have no situation in the video with the cook getting chocked by the sausages unlike the ballet. Parents out there, this isn't disney and the ballet is properly dark. I saw lots of kids at the show and this isn't a kids show

[@julianmendez2084]

Unfortunately, they only posted the last half of the Kitchen scene. that's why it's missing so much

[@pinkcupcake4717]

Gary Avis is definitely having a ball!!

[@midnightmoonlight7493]

I absolutely love Kristen McNally and Gary Avis they completely nailed it and the music is amazing!!! This epic!!!!😍🖤💜💯

[@miurpo]

My favourite ballet seen at the Royal Opera ever 😍

[@MorningDusk7734]

I would just like to mention this hasn't been put in the Alice Playlist yet.

[@missy.j07]

The green and white men, were crip walking😂

[@shantiboomj]

i would love to see this entire show!!

[@chrisamador1216]

This is rather disturbing.

[@lanavita6783]

yeah it's a scene from the actual book

[@chrisamador1216]

@@lanavita6783 haha, I've actually read the book, and got vivid flashbacks of it just by watching this.

[@lanavita6783]

@@chrisamador1216 my book had the original illustrations, in a creepy inky looking colour, i just remember being grossed out by it so much

[@anniespencer7879]

Absolutely.

[@susieqwiedeman547]

I have to admit I don't think I have ever read the book

[@lauracrimson]

Gary Avis is hilariously terrifying as the Duchess. He clearly loves performing her, but I still love Simon Russell Beale better

[@bustedkeaton]

I love black pointe shoes

[@auraluna7679]

Was für eine alptraumhafte Szene, ich habe Gänsehaut!

[@stephiem1063]

Does anybody know if it is it going to be staged again?

[@brindmusicnerd]

When will next be staged?? I so want to see this live!

[@majaisthier3142]

How wonderful!

[@denisebremridge8329]

BRILLIANT ! Chaos reigns in the Royal Kitchen of WONDERLAND....whose kitchen could it be???

[@sandrazevallos5077]

I love the music

[@vincentjames7815]

BRAVO Royal

[@sandrazevallos5077]

Is there a DVD of this Ballett? I love it🙏👍

[@julianmendez2084]

Their is DVDs of this ballet. I have one of the 2011 production but I really want to get the 2017 one.

[@katarinamydrechenko636]

Потрясающе

[@s-7913]

This reminds me of the part in Cameron Jace's book 2 of Insanity on Alice in wonderland. Its dark just like this. Creepy, but a good read!

[@joaomarcelo7171]

Swenny Todd vibes from this video

[@carynail4898]

This reminds me of my sister

[@naomimusau3407]

❤❤

[@strawberrysoda7232]

MOG SO COOL I LIKE TI

[@Mr.Candlewick]

Anyone know where this full show is

[@campoole1729]

Could some one please explain this

[@citytrees1752]

Lady with butcher knife should be facing audience.

[@annalisasteinnes]

I... don't remember that scene in the story...

[@sadlemonarts]

They probably never showed it in the movies but it was in the book. I don't know if their intention was to eat the baby but the baby did turn into a pig. It happens right before she meets the Cheshire cat

[@ambarcolmenares6338]

this is from the book

[@overlydramaticpanda]

As far as I can remember, in the book there's no obsession with pigs, just with pepper which the Cook is always spraying everywhere (I think she's also described as throwing cutlery everywhere too) which causes the baby to always be crying. Alice is given the baby to look after and she takes him out of the house because...clearly it's not exactly a child-friendly environment. When she's away from the house, she scolds the baby for his crying making him sound like a pig and discovers that he's turned into a pig. She lets him go and then she forgets all about him when she finds the Cheshire Cat and the pig-baby is never mentioned again.

[@marts591]

Oh no don’t show this to the @That vegan teacher

[@ameliachastain5186]

Did...did they kill the baby?

[@cefrinaldi8060]

In the book, the baby turn into a pig. I dont know what happen in the ballet adaptation, but i'm very curious.

[@overlydramaticpanda]

I think that's definitely meant to be the implication - I mean, he turns into a pig and then is taken back inside what is essentially a pig-exclusive abattoir with a cleaver-wielding psycho cook, so... They probably ended up eating him too since they *were* busy making sausages.

[@ameliachastain5186]

Overly Dramatic Panda oh my fucking god that is messed up

[@theuknownone9913]

Think of the vegans 😹

[@Madmen604]

The ballet steps are not well integrated into the story, imo. It looks like they are dancing because they have to fit in the routines, especially the mad hatters entrance. To my eyes, the dance sequences are unimaginative , not coordinated into the story. The dance should tell the story, the dance replaces the spoken word, I find just looking at these clips, the dances do not accomplish that.

[@Amelia-do2ic]

Ok I’m back, what is this bs